lime


a. I'm not sure many people would have seen this coming. Two teams that joined the league at the same time, both making the finals and competing against each other for their franchise-first cup. So... who do think wins it all? The first time to the Challenge Cup Seattle Argonauts, that have been dismantling higher seeded teams through their entire playoff run? Or the President's Trophy winning Atlanta Inferno that are back with a vengeance after a S64 Challenge Cup defeat?

In FHM8, regular season success seems to have higher correlation with postseason success. You can't just "start trying" when it gets to playoffs. You had to have been good from the get go. This leads me to believe that Atlanta has the strongest case for winning the challenge cup, as their form should continue.

b. You can't talk about Seattle's run without talking about the dominant performance of starting goaltender Willie Miller, who has posted a .935 SV% heading into the finals. If your Atlanta, how do you solve this brick wall? If your Seattle, what do you do to make sure your guy stays hot?

Willie Miller is fucking terrifying and I don't think there is anything you can do to stop him other than pray to as many gods as you can think of and start learning history and theology so you can pray to more. Miller is more of a force of nature than anything so I think you kinda just have to play around that.

c. Atlanta's big storyline is their incredible depth. They have eleven players that have logged 10 or more points so far in the playoffs. If you're Seattle, how do you try to contain three lines of unending offensive pressure? If you're Atlanta, how do you ensure everyone is able to continue to contribute against such a stellar defense?

You gotta trust your guys to get it done. There is a lot of confidence to be had in a good goalie, so you have to use it to take the fight to Atlanta. Keep the puck, and be smart with it. If you can get some power plays or some good breakaways, you can squeak out goals you shouldn't have and that's all that needs to be done for the most part.

d. Seattle's powerplay has been on fire contributing 14 goals up to this point, which comes out to almost 30% of their goals scored (50G total) in these playoffs. Atlanta on the other hand have managed just 5 power play goals, which is only 5% of their scoring (59G total). In your opinion-- is this a good thing for Seattle, or a good thing for Atlanta? Maybe a good thing for both? Do you think a dynamic team like Seattle that can capitalize on so many of their PP chances will lead to Atlanta playing scared-- worried about what might happen if they enter the box? Do you think a relentless Atlanta team that is so flush with even strength scoring is going to be too much for Seattle to take?

This is generally not a good thing to rely on something like power plays, but Atlanta is much better even strength so if they can capitalize on Atlanta's mistakes as well as they have been, that could be the deciding factor in a close series. Seattle is definitely going to need some guerilla tactics to pull out a series win.


There are plenty of ways that Buffalo has come up with to gain an edge. After failing to make the finals the Stampede has had enough. Immediately they started playing with an ear piercing high pitched frequency playing during practice. After many months of listening to this, it no long bothers them and they barely even notice it. The fans will surely not be happy but losing doesn't sell tickets so its kind of a wash. Every time the Stampede has a home game they will have an insane advantage because the visitors will not be used to this annoying screeching. They will have to play through it and lose their verbal communication and focus. The Stampede have mastered non-verbal communication and can play at 100% of their ability. Unfortunately the long term effects of this frequency have not been studied and it is likely that the entire team will go deaf by next season.


claim 3





The playoffs for once were pretty predictable, other than the insane Cinderella run from Seattle. That's something the league hasn't really seen in a long time. Even though they didn't win, it bodes well that interesting stories like that are now possible with the new sim engine and the lack of test simming. Atlanta definitely deserved the win and it feels like the league is in an optimistic place for the first time in a while. It will take a couple more seasons with FHM8 to really understand it but I am liking the difference so far. Maybe next season's surprise can be Buffalo?

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